Herkimer Co. Fair attendance topped 65,000

The Herkimer County Fair wrapped up Sunday after six days of rides, shows, exhibits, contests, festival foods and amusement park rides. Jerry Gillette, owner of Gillette Amusement Park Rides, was among those working to clear the site Monday morning. He said some of the most popular rides at the fair this year wer...

The Herkimer County Fair wrapped up Sunday after six days of rides, shows, exhibits, contests, festival foods and amusement park rides.

Jerry Gillette, owner of Gillette Amusement Park Rides, was among those working to clear the site Monday morning. He said some of the most popular rides at the fair this year were the “high speed thrill rides for people and family favorites, including the bumper cars, merry-go-rounds and slides.”

Gillette said, however, he thought fair attendance was down. “It was a little soft,” he said. “It was a successful fair, but I do believe [the attendance] was down from last year.”

Gerry Elthorp, director of the Herkimer County Fair Association, said the total for this year’s attendance was 65,998 people.

“It’s a little down, but we’re happy with it, with the way the economy is,” she said.

Overall, Elthorp said it was “a terrific fair.”

“Everything was excellent,” said Gloria Snyder, the assistant supervisor of small animals at the fair, as she cleaned up the small animals building on Monday.

Snyder said there were 106 small animals in the pavilion this year, which included pheasants, ducks, guinea pigs, rabbits and chickens. She said the weather was good for the animals.

“The animals were cool. They didn’t get overheated. They did great,” she said.

Snyder, along with Pat and Andy DiFillippo, co-supervisors of the small animals, and some volunteers had been cleaning out the building for nearly three hours by noon on Monday. She said they had to clean out the cages, wash the floor, sweep out the water and take down some of the fencing.